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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Ashkenazi leads race to succeed Halutz |
| 2007-01-17 |
| IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz's surprise decision to resign Tuesday night opened a tight race over which general would succeed him and become Israel's 19th chief of staff. The frontrunner among potential successors is Maj.- Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi, currently director general of the Defense Ministry and the former deputy chief of staff. Ashkenazi lost out to Halutz in the race for the top job in the summer of 2005. Another leading candidate is Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, the current deputy chief of staff. Perceived as a capable infantry officer, Kaplinsky rose through the ranks of the Golani Brigade, which he eventually commanded. As Halutz's deputy, Kaplinsky is an obvious choice although his active participation in the war - he was appointed Halutz's "representative" in the Northern Command - has tainted him and may have ruined his chances at getting the appointment. If Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz are looking to clean the stables in the IDF with a new chief of staff, they might prefer to bring back into service a former general, someone like Ashkenazi, who did not play an active role during the war against Hizbullah. As a former Golani Brigade commander and head of the Northern Command, Ashkenazi has a great deal of experience and time in Lebanon under his belt, certainly an advantage for the next chief of staff who will need to continue dealing with the fragile situation along Israel's northern border. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Good. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-01-17 06:18 |